Stop! Thief!

Here is an entry I'd like you to think about and I'd really appreciate it if you give me your feedback. I'm going to change the names of this true story to protect the not-so-innocent.

Back in the summer of 2006 I had a big run at the WolfTree poker room. They had a great $150 re-buy tournament on Tuesday nights which I won six times. Each time netting an average of $15,000. The guy who ran the event was Ken and his assistant, Hobo.

Then in the fall of that year, Ken and Hobo are no longer running the tournament. I talk to my friends at WolfTree and it turns out the two were skimming thousands of dollars out of the tournament. Their scam was to pocket chips during the color-up periods and steal the same amount of cash from the prize pool figuring everything would balance and no one would know the difference. I had some inkling something was amiss when I saw Ken playing in a 10K event in AC. How could a floor person buy into an event that high? Then there was always a player complaining that his chip stack was low after a color-up break.

So WolfTree doesn't want the bad publicity so they don't press charges against him and Hobo, but they force them to leave. (They probably didn't care that much because it wasn't the casino's money, it was the player's. If it was the casino's money they'd throw away the key.)

So for a while, I'm pissed off about this since I was the one who lost the most money. I figured they probably took $5000 out of my pocket alone. But there wasn't much I could do and, being the easy going guy that I am, I forgot about it.

Now yesterday, I'm competing in a little shoot-out tournament and I make it through to the second day. And who is sitting at my table? You guessed it, none other than Ken the thief. I couldn't believe it. Also sitting at the table is an old poker friend of mine named Billy. Ken is trying to be all nice and friendly to me and I'm just burning up inside. I give him the cold shoulder. Billy didn't know about the scam and was chatting it up with Ken. I'm thinking, if I get knocked out before this Ken prick, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind. I'll stand like Moses and point at him and say something like: Thou art a THIEF! Return to me what is rightfully mine, oh crook! But seriously, I really wanted to say something to him. He had some nerve strutting in there and thinking the past is the past and he was somehow our friend.

We both get pretty deep into the tournament. I got knocked out in a race with Billy and finish 22 out of 204. Not bad but they only paid 20. I stand. I put on my jacket. I shake Billy's hand. I wave to the other players. I ignore Ken's salutations and leave.

I know I did the practical thing. I didn't make any waves. I didn't leave Billy in the uncomfortable position of having to play with Ken after I call him a crook which I really really wanted to do. But I didn't. Should I have done or said something? What do you think? Please post a comment or send me an email. I'm dying to hear what you would do.